The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, on Thursday said that the ongoing revision of the telecommunications industry licensing regime was aimed at making the licences more robust and to accommodate some of the identified new industry trends
Danbatta made the clarification in his keynote address at the opening session of the maiden ‘Talk-To-The Regulator’ (TTTR) Forum in South-South for 2023, held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He explained that the commission organized the forum in keeping with its mandate, and creating opportunities to interact with its licensees on industry issues and new trends with a view to gathering relevant information that would further advance the development of the industry, while improving regulations and service delivery to telecom consumers.
The industry regulator recalled that the TTTR Forum in Yenagoa was originally scheduled to hold in 2022 but had to be postponed due to the dreadful flood disaster that hit Bayelsa State and some other states in the year.
Danbatta used the opportunity availed by the forum to commiserate with the people of Bayelsa State and others affected by the worst flood disaster recorded in the history of the nation, and prayed that such natural disaster shall not plaque the country again.
On some of the major strides of the NCC in the past few years to standardize the telecom sector, Danbatta noted that the telecom industry had witnessed milestones in several ways, including the rapid growth in technology, which is redefining service delivery, and creating wide and high expectations from all stakeholders.
According to him, to keep up to date with developments in the industry, the Commission has also taken measures to improve regulations to accommodate the rapid and continuous development.
The EVC listed some of the interventions and responses of the commission as including but are not limited to facilitating the Roll-Out of 5G Service provision; and the introduction of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) licence to bridge the gap between unserved and underserved areas.
He expatiated: “The Commission is currently reviewing the scope and structure of its existing licenses to make them more robust and to accommodate some of the identified new industry trends.
“In line with the Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2020 – 2025), the NCC is providing industry leadership to facilitate the achievement of 90% Broadband penetration by year 2025, and well above 50% at the end of 2023. Currently, over a One Hundred and Fifty (I50) million Nigerians have access to internet, while over eighty (80) million can access high speed Internet”, Danbatta added.
